Strap seal and package



Nov. 24, 1936. c MaccHEsNEY STRAP SEAL AND PACKAGE Filed May 25, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Liv/emf sterM/Vac esrze gays.

Nov. 24, 1936. c, MacCl-IESNEY STRAP SEAL AND PACKAGE Filed May 25, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 24, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Chester M. MacChesney, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Acme Steel Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application May 25, 1934, Serial No. 727,410

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in strap seals adapted for use in uniting the overlapping ends of metallic straps or binders which are commonly employed for reenforcing boxes or packages or for binding a plurality of boxes, packages or other load elements into a group to form a relatively large load unit. A further feature of the invention is the provision of an improved seal package which permits a plurality of seals to be inserted conveniently in the magazine or other storage space of sealing apparatus, such as that described and claimed in the copending applications of Squire Julius Johnson Serial No. 698,835, filed November 20, 1933, and Ralph H. Norton Serial No. 727,455, filed May 25, 1934, in which there is disclosed apparatus by which a metallic strap or binder is drawn taut around a box or package while at the same time a channel-shaped seal is fed from a magazine or other storage space into position between the jaws of a sealing device, which are then moved bodily to position the seal over the overlapping strap ends, after which the parts of the sealing device are operated to deform the overlapping strap ends and the seal to provide an interlocking joint. In the operation of such apparatus, in which seals are fed from a magazine or storage space to a position where they embrace the overlapping strap ends, or are located between the jaws of a sealing device which is capable of being moved to cause the seal to embrace the strap ends, it is desirable that a considerable number of seals be placed in the magazine or storage space at one time, so that it will not be necessary to renew the supply at frequent intervals and, if the seals must be placed in the magazine or storage space one at a time, a great deal of the time of the operator is consumed in loading the machine with seals.

It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved seal package which may be conveniently inserted in the magazine or storage space of sealing apparatus. A further object of the invention is to provide an improved seal which will permit a series of seals to be stacked in nested relationship to each other and bound together to form a unitary package. A further object of the invention is to provide an improved channel-shaped seal having flaring walls and a back wall provided with a perforation so that a series of such seals may be stacked one upon the other in nested relationship to permit a 4 binder to be passed through the aligning perforations for the purpose of holding the seals together in a group. Another object of the invention is to provide an improved seal of such form that a plurality of seals will have a considerable degree of flexibility when arranged in a stack, thus permitting them to conform to a magazine when placed therein. A further object is to provide a series of superimposed seals having a point to point contact with.

each other which permits them to conform to the shape of a magazine and also lessens the friction between adjacent seals when the lowermost seal is withdrawn from the magazine in the operation of the sealing tool. Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved seal package comprising a stack of seals arranged one above the other in nested relationship and haying aligning apertures therethrough, said apertures being engaged by a binder of ductile metal having its ends transversely bent at the top and bottom of the stack so that, after this stack has been placed in the magazine or storage space of sealing apparatus, the metal binder may be readily withdrawn to leave the seals in readiness for successive movement to the position where they are caused to. engage the ends of the binder to be connected together. Other objects relate to various features of construction and arrangement which will appear more fully hereinafter.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the following specificationtaken with the accompanying drawings, in which one embodiment is illustrated.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved seal of the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of the improved seal package of the present invention, which includes a plurality of these seals-- of the form shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows an end elevation of the stack of seals shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 3a shows an enlarged vertical section through a portion of the stack of seals shown in Fig. 2, illustrating the point to point contact of the seals with each other;

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of a strap joint formed by applying one of the seals of the present invention to a pair of overlapping strap ends, then bending the side walls of the seal into engagement with the strap, and then shearing the edges of the strap and seal to form interlocking shoulders;

Fig. 5 shows an enlarged section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 7, illustrating the means by which the seals of the present invention are fed from the magazine of sealing apparatus into position between the jaws of a sealing device;

Fig. 6 shows an enlarged section on the line 5-6 of Fig. 8, illustrating the application of the channelshaped seal to the overlapping strap ends before the side walls of the seal have been bent beneath the strap ends and before the interlocking joint has been formed;

Fig. 7 shows a side elevation of the movable head and sealing jaws, and other associated parts of one form of sealing apparatus with whiehthe improved seal and seal package of the present invention may be employed;

Fig. 8 shows an enlarged vertical section through the sealing apparatus illustrated in Fig. 7 with the movable head of the apparatus shown in side elevation after it has been lowered to bring a seal into engagement with the overlapping strap ends;

Fig. 9 shows an enlarged side elevation of the lower portions of the Jaw members of the sealing apparatus with a-seal positioned between them and embracing the overlapping ends of a'strap, in readiness for the'operation of effecting relative movement of the jaw members to bend these side to their outer edges and they are of equal depth so that a plurality of seals of similar formation may be stacked one upon the other to form a selfsustaining vertical pile. In order that a stack of these seals 20 may be maintained in superimposed relationship with each other, the back wall of each seal is provided with a centrally located aperture 20 and when a plurality of seals are stacked one upon each other to form a pile 2l, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, these apertures 20 align with each other and may be engaged by a binder or fastener 22 which maybe a string or other flexible memher but is preferably in the form of a wire of comparatively soft ductile metal which has its projecting ends reversely bent to form hook portions 22= extending along the sides of the stack of seals and holding them in assembled relationship. The stack of seals is thus bound in a compact unit and may be packed for shipment in this fashion after which it may be manipulated readily in the hands of the user, either for using the seals individually in any suitable sealing device, or for placing the stack of seals in the magazine or storage space to inequality in the thicknesses of different portions of the side walls of different seals, the stack of seals will assume a curved form from end to end, thus making it inconvenient or impossible to place the stack of seals in a magazine or storage space having straight sides. This difficulty is overcome in the present invention by providing the-side walls 20 of the seals with projections 26 which preferably extend inwardly and which are 7 located some distance above the lower edges 20 of the side walls midway between the ends of the parallel side walls.

with the outer surfaces of the side walls of the next lower seal, so that the seals have a point to point contact with each other. This arrangement gives the stack of seals sufficient flexibility to permit it to retain an upright position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, regardless of inequalities-in the thicknesses of the metal forming the walls of different seals and the stack of seals may therefore be inserted in a closely fitting magazine having point contact of adjacent seals reduces the frictional resistance between each seal and the next adjacent one so that the bottom seal of the stack jections 20 in the side Walls of one seal contact In addition, this point to may be readily removed endwise, as hereinafter described. The ends of the side walls 20 at one or both ends of the seal, are preferably cut away along inclined lines 20 to facilitate the guiding of the seal from the magazine to the jaws of the sealing tool.

In Figs. 5 to 10, inclusive of the drawings, there is illustrated one method of making use of the improved seal and seal package of the present invention in a form of sealing apparatus which is described and claimed in said copending applications of Messrs. Squire Julius Johnson and Ralph H. Norton and also in two pending applications of William C. Childress, Serial No. 592,050, filed February 10, 1932 and Serial N0. 629,798, filed August 22, 1932. This apparatus comprises a base plate which is adapted to rest upon the surface of the box or package about which the metal strap or binder is to be secured. The strap 21 is passed around the box-or package with one end 2! thereof resting upon the base plate 25 and the other end portion 2'! thereof which leads from the source of supply, is carried over the end portion 2'! so that the two end portions overlap and, after the supply portion has been cut off from the source of supply, these ends lie in close contact with each other as shown in Fig. 6. Before the supply portion is cut off, as shown in Fig. 6, the strap is drawn taut by means of gripping devices which engage the end portions thereof and which have relative movement due to the sliding motion of a bar 28 along the base plate 25, as more fully described in said copending applications. A movable head 30 is mounted above the base plate 25 and is adapted to pivot about a pin 3|, the upward movement of the head being limited by the engagement of the side plates 32 of the head with bushings 33 mounted upon a pin or shaft 34 which is carried by the upstanding post 35 in which the pin 3! is mounted. The side plates 32 of the head 30 have mounted between them a pair of Jaw members 35 which are adapted to pivot about pins 36 extending between these side plates. These jaw members are provided with curved surfaces 35%, concentric with the axes of the pins 36 and these surfaces are adapted to coact with the corresponding curved surfaces of a saddle 31 adapted to be engaged by the back wall of a. seal when a seal is positioned between the hook-shaped jaw portions 35 of the jaw members. These jaw portions are provided with notches 35 adapted to be engaged by the edges 20' of the side walls of a seal 20 whenthis seal is placed between the jaws as shown particularly in Figs. 7 and 9.

when placed between the jaw members, the seal 28 is adapted to be held in position while the head 30 is lowered for the purpose of causing the seal to embrace the overlapping ends of the strap. Cutting dies 38 are mounted in slots in the opposite jaw members and these project into the recesses 35 of the jaws so that when the jaws are moved toward each other about the pivot pins 36, the jaws operate first to bend the side walls 20 of the seal beneaththe overlapping strap ends and then to shear the lateral edges of the strap and seal to form an interlocking joint having the characteristics shown in Fig. 4, where the side walls 20 are shown as being projected into positions substantially parallel to the strap but preferably overlapping at their edges. while the lateral edges of the strap and seal are sheared by the cutting dies along the lines 39 and intervening portions of the metal are deflected to form tongues or projections 48 so that portions of the strap and seal interlock with each other along shoulders extending transversely of the strap. A pin 42 is slidably mounted in a bore formed in one of the jaw members and bears at its end against the other jaw member. A coil spring 43 is mounted in the bore to engage the head of this pin and the other end of the spring is engaged by a plug 44 which threadedly engages the bore in the jaw member for the purpose of retaining the spring in place and adjusting its compression. By this arrangement, the jaw members are caused to engage the side walls 20" of the seal with a resilient pressure which causes the seal to be firmly held while the head 30 is being lowered to move the seal into engagement with the strap ends.

The jaw members 35 are provided with upwardly extending arms 35 each of which is pivotally connected by a pin 45 with one of the links 46. These two links are in turn pivotally connected at their other ends by pins 41 with opposite ends of the elongated hub portion 48* of an operating lever 48. This lever is pivotally mounted upon apin 49 extendingbetween the side plates 32 of the head and when the lever 48 is in a position to cause its hub 48 to extend upright, as shown in Fig. '7, the arms 35 01' the jaw members are drawn inwardly toward each other and the jaw portions 35 are correspondlngly separated to permit the insertion of a seal 20. The extent to which the jaw members may be thus separated is limited by the engagement of the projection 48 of the hub of the lever with a pin 50 which extends between the side plates of the head. The jaw member 35 which is nearest to the pivot pin 3| about which the head moves is connected to that pin 3| by means of a pair of links 5| and 52. The link 5| is connected to the adjacent jaw member by a pin 53 and the two links are connected to each otherby a pivot pin 54. The other end of the lower link 52 is pivotally mounted on the pin 3|. When these links are in alignment with each other as shown in Fig. '7, they form a toggle which prevents relative movement of the jaw members 35 by manipulation of the lever 48. This allows the head 38 to be lowered by the lever 48 without any relative movement of the jaw members until the seal 2|] is caused to embrace the overlapping strap ends as shown in Fig. 9. After that has been accomplished, the lower link 52 engages a stop pin 55 mounted in the base plate 25 with the result that this link is held against further movement and the toggle is broken so that relative movement of the jaw members 35 is then permitted as the lever 48 is moved about the pivot pin 49.

For the purpose of permitting the strap 21 to be cut oil from the source of supply by the action of moving the head 30 downwardly, a stationary cutting die is mounted upon the base plate 25. The cutting die is adapted to cooperate with the cutting blade 6| carried by a cutting lever 62 which is mounted on the bolt 63 by which the stationary cutting die is secured to a lug extending upwardly from the base. The cutting lever 62 is pivotally connected by a pin 64 with a link 65 which is in turn pivoted on a pin 66 carried by the adjacent side plate 32 of the head. With this construction, the initial downward movement of the head 30 causes the blade 6| to cooperate'with the stationary cutting die 68 to sever the strap 2'! from the source of supply and then the continuous downward motion of the head 30 causes the seal 20 to be positioned over the overlapping strap ends as shown in Fig. 9, the upper portion 21 of the strap which has just been cut oil from the source of simply being forced downwardly into close contact with the underlying portion 21 which rests upon the base plate 25. A coil spring 61 connects the pivot pin 64 with a stationary pin 68 projecting upwardly from the base 25. When the head 30 is moved downwardly, this spring 61 is elongated by the relative pivotal movement of the cutting lever 62 and the link 65, and the spring therefore tends to elevate the head 30 and to maintain it in the position shown in Fig. '7.

At the side of the head 30 opposite the cutting die, a bracket 10 is detachably mounted on the base plate 25 and extends upwardly therefrom. This bracket has an upwardly extending inclined flange Hi to which a channel-shaped seal magazine 1| is secured by screws 12. The lower end of the magazine II is closed by a flat guide plate 13 over which the seals 20 are adapted to be moved in passing to a position between the jaws 35 The magazine H is in the form of a channel having a back wall Il side walls N and front flanges H which project inwardly from the side walls to overlap the seals 20 which are mounted in the magazine, leaving a slot through which the seals may be observed and through which access may be had to the wire 22 by which the stack of seals are held together when they are first placed in the magazine. The guide plate 13 is provided with a groove I3 extending outwardly between the flanges ll of the magazine so that when the stack 2| of seals 20 is initially placed in the magazine, the lower end portion of the wire 22 will occupy this groove 13 and thus permit the lowermost seal to rest directly upon the plate 13. The hook portion 22* of the wire at the upper end of the stack will be exposed through the slot between the flanges. The operator may then benddownwardly the lower hook portion 22 and, after bending upwardly the upper hook portion 22 of the wire, a pull exerted on the wirewill cause it to be withdrawn from the seals so that they will then be free of each other within the magazine and may be fed therefrom over the guide plate 13 by the action of a plunger 15 which slides through an opening 16 in one side wall of the seal magazine to project the lowermost seal endwise through an opening 11 in the other side wall and into a position between the jaws of the jaw members 35. The plunger 15 is circular in cross-section and may be operated manually or by the actuation of the strap stretching mechanism as disclosed in said applications, to reciprocate in a groove ll" formed in the guide plate. Theplunger is provided at its forward end with a projection 15 which is adapted to hook over the end of the top wall 20' of the lowermost seal of the stack so that this seal is definitely separated from those above it. The point to point contact between adiacent seals makes it possible to slide the lowermost seal readily from the magazine to a position between the Jaws. This movement is facilitated by the inclined surfaces 20' at the end of the seal which cause the lower edges of the side walls 20 to be guided to the proper positions within the jaws. In this way, a stack of seals having a nested relationship with each other may be readily inserted in the magazine and then, after being put in condition for use by withdrawing the wire 22, they may be readily and accurately fed to a position between the jaws.

Although one form of the improved seal and one embodiment of the improved seal package together with one method of making use thereof, have been shown and described by way of illustration, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in various other forms coming within the scope of the appended claims. The seal of the present invention is claimed, apart from the package, in my co-pending divisional application Serial No. 17,418, filed April 20, 1935.

I claim:

1. A package of strap seals comprising a plurality of channel-shaped seals arranged in a stack with their back walls in parallel relationship, said back walls having aligning apertures therethrough, the side walls of each seal having inwardly extending projections to form point to point contacts with the side walls of the next lower seal of the stack, and a fastening member fastening member for temporarily securing said seals together.

3. A package of strap seals, for use ina sealing tool, comprising a plurality of channelshaped seals, each having a back wall and diverging side walls, said seals being nested one within the other and each having a single pro- Jection on each side wall engaging a flat surface on a side wall of an adjacent seal,-sald projections on each seal being located entirely above the lower edges of the side walls of that seal, and releasable holding means for securing said seals together.

4. A package of strap seals, for use in a sealing tool, comprising a plurality of superimposed channel-shaped metal seals nested one within the other and each having a back wall and diverging side walls, each of said side walls on each seal having a single pointed projection midway between its ends and located entirely above its lower edge for engaging a flat surface on a side wall of an adjacent seal in the stack, whereby the seals are capable of a rocking motion upon each other, the back walls of said seals having aligning apertures therethrough, and a fastening member extending through said apertures and having transverse portions at the end of the stack for temporarily securing said seals together.

CHESTER, M. MACCHESNEY. 

